Hip ‘pulled up really well’ says Bont

He was the talk of town in Ballarat a fortnight ago when he was a late withdrawal for the game against the Suns, but Marcus Bontempelli’s hip has pulled up well from the Dogs’ 14-point weekend win over Brisbane, he’s told RSN.

The stand-in skipper had 24 touches in a game-breaking performance against the Lions on Saturday night playing mostly forward but with some pinch hitting up the field.

Throw in six marks (four inside 50), four clearances, four tackles and five inside 50s, the week off looked to have done the trick for the 22-year-old.

“The weekend off helped some healing occur by not sending game load through it, and also the typical knocks you cop throughout the game, hips are probably one of the main hit areas, particularly around a stoppage,” he said.

“It might be something we have to strengthen and get better over the course of the next four or five weeks, but in terms of the weekend off and the healing it’s really pulled up well, so I’m happy, the Club’s happy and hopefully that’s the end of that.”

In terms of his evolving forward/midfield role, Bontempelli said it largely depends on the opposition and the teams’ make-up on any given week.

“It’s a good tactical option for us week to week. I have a bit of a chat to Bevo and the other coaches week to week about what it looks like and it does seem to change based on the opponent and based on the team selection as well,” he said.

Whatever the role, he said he’s happy to do what the team needs week to week.

“I like being able to share the responsibility of midfield and forward and I hope it helps the rest of the team play well as well. “